PENN TWP – There are many ways for a rookie to enter the National Football League.

Some sit on the sidelines, waiting for their opportunity to prove themselves.

Others hope to impress their coaches by contributing a special teams tackle here and there.

Then there are those select few who simply take the league by storm.

That's the route Louis Lipps chose to take.

The Louisiana native entered the 1984 season as the Pittsburgh Steelers first-round draft pick, the fourth wide receiver selected overall.

He finished it up by being named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.

"That's probably the most memorable part of my career," said Lipps, who made his third appearance at the Robin Cole Celebrity Golf Classic Monday at Conley's Resort.

"As a rookie, you want to make yourself noticed," he added. "Being named rookie of the year and getting to the Pro Bowl was pretty big for me."

Lipps' 1984 numbers included 45 receptions for 860 yards and nine touchdowns, along with a league-leading 656 punt return yards.

That effort helped the Steelers to the AFC Central crown.

In the team's first playoff game, a divisional-round affair at Denver, Lipps caught a third-quarter touchdown pass from Mark Malone that tied the game at 17. The Steelers would go on to win the game, 24-17.

The team's drive to Super Bowl XIX came to an end the next week in Miami, where the Dolphins defeated Pittsburgh 45-28 in the conference title game.

Little did Lipps and his teammates know it, but Pittsburgh would not play in another playoff game until 1989.

Between 1985-88, the Steelers compiled a 26-37 record.

"You get to the AFC Championship Game one year and you think you're going all the way the next year," said Lipps. "You never think you're going to miss the playoffs four straight years. But sometimes, things just don't go your way."

The beginning of the 1989 season offered little hope the Steelers would end their postseason drought. Their first two games yielded losses to Cleveland (51-0) and Cincinnati (41-10).

"There really wasn't much else that Coach (Chuck) Noll had to do," Lipps said. "We got embarrassed in the first two games and weren't playing Steeler football."

The Steelers spent all season digging themselves out of the 0-2 hole and, when the regular season was over, Pittsburgh was 9-7 and was the fifth and final team to make the playoffs.

"We knew it wasn't how you started, but how you finished," said Lipps.

The team upset Houston in a wildcard game, 26-23 in overtime before losing a heartbreaker to Denver, 24-23 in the divisional round.

It was the last playoff game Lipps would play in. But he remained a crucial piece to the puzzle in Pittsburgh's passing attack.

In 1991, his last in a Steelers uniform, Lipps caught at least 50 passes for the fourth consecutive season.

"The Steelers cut me after the (1991) season and I played briefly for New Orleans," said Lipps. "Then (the Saints) cut me and Pittsburgh picked me back up in 1993, before cutting me again. That's when I retired."

Lipps, now 45, ended his career with 359 receptions for 6,019 yards and 39 receiving touchdowns.

He still ranks third in Steelers history in both pass receptions (358) and receiving yards (6,018).

Now a mortgage broker living in Pittsburgh, Lipps played opposite a future Hall of Famer in John Stallworth from 1984-87.

"It was really overwhelming coming in and playing alongside him," said Lipps. "He was such a genuine person who really wanted to see me succeed.

"He took me under his wing and taught me so many things that I wouldn't have gotten from the coaches."